Noncognitive Factors and College Student Success

Farrington and colleagues developed a model that contends that academic mindsets, academic perseverance, learning strategies, social skills, and academic behaviors affect academic success. This study tests a modified version of this model with first-year students (n=1,603) at a large, ethnically diverse, urban university. The hypothesized structural model had acceptable fit, with minor modifications. The direct effect on academic performance of academic mindset was strong, of academic perseverance was modest, and of time management was nonsignificant. Only participants' academic performance had a strong positive effect on retention. Few differences by ethnicity were found. As mindsets are amenable to change, with intervention programs showing promising effects, students with low scores should be targeted to receive support early in their college careers so they may succeed in college.